Please excuse the glare - a weird yellow ball briefly lit up the sky for a millisecond! I think it's called the sun.
Two of the projects are for the grandbabies - first up is Zoey's big bed quilt. She'll be 1 1/2 at Christmas time, so it'll be a little early but that's okay!
It will be made from the panel and coordinating fabric line "Before the Kiss" by Avlyn, and the pattern is a free download from their website, avlyn.com. I bought the fabric from the local chain store, Fabricland, so I hope it is a first-run fabric. It felt like a good weight, and the colours and patterns were crisp so I think it is. Of course, I will make some changes and add my own touches, as I noted above, hopefully I can read my own shorthand when I pull it out again. The finished version on display had hot-fix crystals where any stars, gems and water sparkles are, so I'm going to do some research and possibly add some bling to my version. Supposedly, the ones I have are absolutely permanent and "the only ones authorized by the National Skating Association" for skaters' costumes according to the salesperson. I'll believe it when I do my own research, but hopefully that is true and I can add some bling to this quilt. Zoey's not one to put anything in her mouth, not even food, so it might not be an issue.
I also bought enough fabric to make a coordinating pillowcase for a tradition my sister and I have.
This fabric my daughter brought home from New Zealand when they went there for Christmas this year (her husband is from Tuaranga, North Island). She brought me 2 metres, and I'm going to use some of it to make a pillowcase for Alex. I love the rugby-playing kiwis, but the pukeko birds are my favourite. The pukeko are native to New Zealand, and run wild on Ray's parents' property so it will be a good reminder of their visit for Alex.
Our tradition of giving pillowcases filled with little gifts was started by our mother when our girls were small. She made fabric bags and filled them with little things to keep the kids occupied until everyone arrived at my parents home for the family gift exchange and dinner. One year she made the gift bags out of fabric printed with trolls dressed for Christmas - and they were used from then on!
Trolls seemed a little girly when our grandsons came along, so I made them pillowcases the year Alex was two (at that time, there were just the 2 boys old enough). They loved them so much that I've decided to make new pillowcases every year, and this year there will be a total of 6 to make!
Zoey's of course is no problem, hers will match her new quilt, and Alex's will be the kiwis playing rugby. My sister's grandchildren are all boys, including a new one due this coming June, so shopping for fabric will be interesting. I go to Munroe, WA for scrapbooking retreats 2-3 times a year, so I'll be able to look around the Seattle area for some interesting fabric at lower prices than I can usually get in Canada. I think I'll stick to a sports theme for the boys, and look for soccer fabric for 2 of the boys (brothers whose dad is soccer crazy), and baseball or hockey for the other little boys. It doesn't matter that the newest arrival will be too little to understand it, but the older boys will question why he doesn't get one too!
The rest of the basket has precut fabric wallets, using Lazy Girl's Wonder Wallet pattern, a quilt using the Lil' Twister tool and 2 charm packs of It's a Hoot, a Christmas fabric book, a little stuffed bear kit, a couple of Christmas panels for my daughters, and all the parts and the pattern to make Nancy Halvorsen's Joy to the World wall hanging. humm, I better get started!
What a great idea. I need to take my machine in soon, I know I have kits I could cut and scrap to make into strips or squares. Thanks for the tip.
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